North Stonington, Ct. – June 28, 1944

Shortly before 6 p.m. on June 28, 1944, a single-seat navy plane from Quonset Naval Air Station was flying over the Westerly – Stonington area at 18,000 feet when the tail developed a “flutter”. The pilot dropped down to 10,000 feet and the “flutter” got worse. Since the pilot was near Westerly Air Field, he radioed a distress call, and said he would attempt to land there. As he attempted to reach the field the “flutter” got even worse, forcing the pilot to bail out.

The plane began falling from the sky, but as it neared the ground it leveled off of its own accord, and swept across North Stonington Road tearing away power lines and smashing into the home of Earl and Grace Norman. Both received burns from exploding aviation fuel.